Prior Art utility pole and towers are permanently assembled with cross arms, conductors, insulators and the like. These assemblies are costly to purchase, assemble and maintain. Historically, thousands of miles of utility lines have been lost to adverse weather and other external forces, costing enormous amounts of money to replace. Many consumers who depend on the utility supply have been left without service for weeks at a time, resulting in huge losses of produce, dairy and other inventory and equipment. Further, insurance companies are burdened by the large claims that result from the loss of utility services.
The prior art does not provide a means in all cases to cease the flow of power to downed conductors and transformers. Downed conductors often result in loss of life and damage or destruction of property. However, while there are myriad of assemblies for utility transmission systems, none provide a convenient means of selectively lowering power lines to the ground for maintenance, repair or construction. The prior art provides that a lineman must climb a utility pole or use a bucket lift to lower, assemble or repair electrical conductors or components. This can be dangerous, time consuming and expensive. In addition, the prior art does not provide for a warning signal means when lowering these dangerous power lines and apparatus, either audible or visual.
Prior art utility systems are also sensitive to resistance and heat build up in the conductors. This results in progressively higher resistance and the inefficient transmission of current. Heavy loads of ice and high winds and the like can cause stretching and sagging of the conductors where conductors are reduced in diameter. This further reduces the capacity of the conductor. Obviously, where the conductors have exceeded their limits of strain they must be replaced, at great expense.
Thus, what is needed is a system that monitors and responds to external stresses on utility conductors to prevent damage to these valuable conductors. The system should be automatic and should prevent live utility lines at ground level. Further, the device should be easy for utility crews to repair and reset.
It is intended that any other advantages and objects of the present invention that become apparent or obvious from the detailed description or illustrations contained herein are within the scope of the present invention.